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- Journalists covering the Russia-Ukraine conflict for the New York Times have been recruited by Russian secret services, Kiev’s information warfare agency alleged on Monday. The state-run Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) made its statement while blasting the newspaper for a recent article about the prospects of peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev. “In order to write this text, the Russian Federation has used American journalists who were recruited during their work in Russia,” the CCD said in a statement on social media, without elaborating.
- UQ mathematician Dr Matt Holden, ecologist Dr Andrew Rogers and taxonomist Dr Russell Yong took a census of their Annerley share house and its backyard during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, and discovered 1,150 unique species of animals, plants and fungi over a 12-month period. “We asked a large number of ecologists and conservation scientists how many species they’d expect to find in this setting and they predicted only 200,” Dr Holden said. “But after 60 days of surveying, we’d already discovered 777 species. “It shows suburban houses and apartments could have far more biodiversity than ever imagined, especially when it comes to insects.” The survey revealed richly biodiverse creatures including 436 moth and butterfly species, 56 different spiders, eight reptiles and 56 birds.
- The US insistence on sanctioning Russia has caused a downturn in the EU economy, according to President Vladimir Putin’s top economic adviser, Maksim Oreshkin. In an interview with Expert magazine published on Tuesday, Oreshkin said the sanctions imposed since February last year have caused the EU to lose both its energy security and a key export market. Oreshkin accused the US of “cannibalizing its European partners, killing European chemicals, automotive and other industries.” This comes amid a broader degradation of the West and its economic model, he said.
- Former US President Donald Trump has posted Christmas greetings wishing eternal damnation on his political enemies and ranting about their alleged efforts to interfere in the 2024 election by blocking voters from returning him to power. Trump referred to his successor as “Crooked Joe Biden” and said Smith was the current president’s “only hope” to win reelection in 2024. Smith is prosecuting Trump in two criminal cases – alleging mishandling of classified documents and trying to overturn Biden’s 2020 election victory – and is trying to win convictions before voters go to the polls next November.
- Disturbing statistics spotlight the existence of over 260,000 unoccupied homes in England that have remained vacant for an extended period of time. Furthermore, these numbers are even more troubling when considering that over 121,000 children are currently residing in temporary accommodations. This Christmas, Liberal Democrats have unveiled a startling statistic: England has over twice the number of long-term vacant homes as compared to the number of children living in temporary accommodations. This reveals the significant imbalances within the country’s housing market. According to the latest figures from the House of Commons library, there has been a notable rise in families living in non-permanent residences, like bed & breakfasts (B&B), hotels, and short-term rented properties. This troubling trend has reached its highest point this year, with 121,327 children affected.
- Today Israeli artillery shells hit the upper floors of the Palestinian Red Crescent headquarters in Khan Yunis, in the southern sector of the Gaza Strip, causing some victims among the displaced people inside. Thousands of displaced people had found shelter in the building in question. The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said that at least 21 thousand people have died in the Palestinian enclave since October 7, with almost 55 thousand injured.
- The Kyrgyz president’s press service said on December the Kyrgyzstan will partially change the design on the country’s national flag, with a corresponding law signed by President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov. The adopted law changed the shape of the sun’s rays on the flag of Kyrgyzstan from wavy to straight. The law also stipulates that all types of official documents with the image of the State Flag of Kyrgyzstan are valid until the expiration of their validity period, and vehicle license plates and vehicle registration certificates with the image of the national flag are valid until the relevant authority makes a decision on their replacement. Kyrgyzstan’s flag, adopted in 1992 after the Soviet collapse, currently features a yellow orb – representing a traditional nomadic yurt – against a red background, surrounded by lines emanating from the center. DW says parliament speaker Nurlanbek Shakiev in November, put forward a bill to change the emblem in order to make those lines “clearly reminiscent of sun rays”.
- Who runs the world? It used to be an easy question to answer, but the next global super power isn’t who you think it is—not the US, not China. In fact, it’s not a country at all … It’s technology. As new artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney hit the market, techn firms control increasingly large data sets about massive swaths of the world’s population—what we think, what we feel, how we use the internet. And social media companies can impact elections with a simple tweak of an algorithm. According to Ian Bremmer, founder and president of GZERO Media and Eurasia Group, AI’s power paradox is that it’s both too powerful to easily govern, but too beneficial to outright ban.
- CBS News investigative reporter Catherine Herridge made a “dark” prediction that 2024 will produce a ‘Black Swan Event’ which shocks the world. A black swan event is defined as a major catalyzing event that seems unpredictable at the time, but with the benefit of hindsight seemed inevitable. The event must have an extreme impact when it occurs, with examples including the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007-2008. ~ Paul Joseph Watson
- “This year, I am highlighting a whopping ~$900,000,000,000 of waste, including an NIH grant to study Russian cats walking on a treadmill, Barbies used as proof of ID for receiving COVID Paycheck Protection Program funds, $6 million to promote tourism in Egypt, and $200 million to ‘struggling artists’ like Post Malone, Chris Brown, and Lil Wayne. And unsurprisingly, since Anthony Fauci has been a pronounced blight on the public sector for decades, we saw receipts for a whole lotta nasty’ animal experimentation. Where is PETA when you actually need them? In one NIH- funded study, monkeys were drugged with meth, then tracked with the implanted wires running ‘subcutaneously from the head incision to the eye orbit, exiting the eye orbit from underneath the upper eyelid.’” ~ Rand Paul’s Annual Festivus Report
- Known as the Cold Moon, this lunar spectacle promises a breathtaking display at the end of the month. The eagerly anticipated full moon in December 2023 will reach its peak illumination just after Christmas on Wednesday, December 27, according to NASA. However, the moon appeared almost full on the nights of December 24 and 25. On these nights, with 93 and 98 percent illumination respectively, the moon will provide a perfect setting for families to enjoy. Moreover, December’s full moon comes with an additional celestial treat-it is a partial lunar eclipse. NASA experts explain that this occurs when there is an imperfect alignment of the sun, Earth, and moon, causing the moon to pass through only part of Earth’s umbra. Known as the Cold Moon, this lunar spectacle promises a breathtaking display at the end of the month.
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Rose Rambles... 